


Godspeed, Tony Stark

by J (j_writes)



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-14
Updated: 2012-05-14
Packaged: 2017-11-05 09:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_writes/pseuds/J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ten year old you didn't save the world today.  I'm not saying he never did, because it wouldn't surprise me in the least.  But today?  He doesn't get an opinion."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Godspeed, Tony Stark

**Author's Note:**

> set post-movie, contains minor spoilers.

"You ever want to be an astronaut?"

Bruce looked at Tony over the rim of his glass. "Sorry?"

"When you were a kid." Tony eyed him. "You _were_ a kid at some point, right? Before you got busy winning science fairs and getting shot down by girls, did you ever go through a NASA phase?"

"Sure," Bruce replied. "What kid doesn't?"

Tony shrugged. "Maybe the kind who doesn't spend their spare time building rockets."

"I didn't know any of those."

"Yeah. Me neither." Tony finished off his drink and set his glass aside, looking out at the lights of the city below them. "I was in space today."

Bruce blinked, and looked at him. "You were," he agreed. The thought hadn't occurred to him until now, and he saw from the slightly dazed expression on Tony's face that he wasn't alone. "Ten year old you is definitely jealous."

"I didn't even – " Tony began, then broke off. "I was trying to call Pepper."

Bruce hadn't known that, but it wasn't surprising. "Guess cell reception's not too great at the ass end of the universe."

"Not so much, no," Tony agreed. "I keep playing it over in my head, trying to put together what I was seeing, and I keep coming up against – " he shrugged. "I didn't look. That's the roadblock I keep hitting. I was in space, and I was _distracted_."

"You had some things on your mind at the time," Bruce reminded him. He reached behind them for the bottle that Tony had brought outside with them, and refilled Tony's glass, topping off his own as well. "Fate of the world, and all that."

"True," Tony said. He stretched his legs out in front of him. "Something tells me that ten year old me wouldn't think that was a very good excuse."

"Ten year old you didn't save the world today." Bruce smiled, looking at Tony out of the corner of his eye. "I'm not saying he never did, because it wouldn't surprise me in the least. But today? He doesn't get an opinion." He leaned back on his arms and looked up at the sky for a few moments. The lights of the city made it impossible to make out any stars, but his mental map of them was good enough that he knew where they should be, what they'd look like tonight if they could shut the city off and stretch out on their backs here at the edge of the tower. "You weren't the only set of eyes out there," he pointed out finally, and felt Tony shift beside him.

"Just me and – " Tony began, and stopped. 

"You and the suit," Bruce filled in. "I bet your robot butler has some things to say on the subject."

"His name's JARVIS," Tony replied absently. "Remind me to introduce you when we go back inside. You guys will get along famously." He sat up straighter, looking at Bruce. "You're right, though, I didn't _need_ to be paying attention. I probably got _weeks_ of data, without even meaning to." His eyes caught the light as he grinned deviously. "Want to go run some numbers with me?"

Bruce smiled back. "There's pretty much nothing I'd like to do more," he said. He considered. "Short of getting in the suit and taking a trip myself, I guess, but I don't know how the other guy would feel about the space tourism industry."

Tony winced. "You realize you'd pretty much break my heart if you busted up my suit from the inside, right?"

Bruce let his eyes drop to the arc reactor, and refrained from making any of the obvious jokes. He stood instead, stretching, and offered Tony a hand up. "Come on, rocket man," he said. "Let's see what JARVIS has for us."

"I have some mockups," Tony said, leaning over to grab the bottle from the ground, "where I was tossing around the idea of interstellar travel, but I figured it was going to be decades before we made it that far. The pressure differential alone – " he broke off and turned to beam at Bruce. " _Space_ , Banner."

"The final frontier," Bruce said, grinning back, and steered Tony back towards the door. "Pretty badass."

"The badassest," Tony agreed. "And look at it this way, if we don't have enough data saved right now, I'm just going to have to figure out some way to make it happen again."

"That'll be a real hardship for you, I'm sure," Bruce said dryly. "I'll try to remind you to pay attention next time."

"I knew I brought you home with me for a reason," Tony said, slinging an arm over his shoulders, and he led him through a shattered window instead of using the door. "JARVIS, this is Bruce," he announced. "You can't have him. He's mine."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir," JARVIS replied mildly. "Data extrapolation from the suit will take another few moments. May I suggest not making yourself another drink in the interim?"

"I like this guy," Bruce decided.

"Good," Tony said, "because he's going to be helping us design your lab."

Bruce frowned and opened his mouth to object, but JARVIS smoothly interrupted him with "Data extraction complete, sir," and a complex hologram of an unfamiliar portion of space began appearing around them, starting at Tony and moving outward. Bruce watched, unable to keep his face from splitting into a grin, and when Tony raised his eyebrows at him, Bruce stepped into the space beside him, letting the galaxy build around them both.

"You were going to say something?" Tony asked. "About not taking the position I have so generously offered you?"

"Was I?" Bruce asked. "I got distracted."

"Good," Tony said, "I'll do my best to keep you that way," and for the first time in a long time, Bruce started to believe that maybe he had found the one thing in the world that could be successful in that department.


End file.
